The Other Side
by True Dawn
Summary: There are two sides to every war. And happy people don't overthrow governments. A series of connected one-shots.
1. Savior

Antar was in ruins.

Antar was in ruins and its current ruler was doing nothing to stop its decline. The powerful upper class grew richer by the day while the majority of the population fell into poverty.

Most of the people of Antar had no love for the current system of government, particularly its leader; however former attempts at rebellion had failed rather spectaculary. This was mostly due to the fact that Antar had a powerful army and Antar's people were divided into too many factions to ever truly work together to install a new government.

Still, as the situation of Antar grew worse a movement formed that actually had a chance to succeed. Rumours grew of a greatleader who fought the ruler of Antar, a man who fought for a fairer, better system of government.

His name was Khiver.


	2. Selfishness

It's ironic, you think, that the 1947 crash was the best thing that ever happened to you.

Back on Antar, your kind had been guardians for the nobles, you had been a guardian of the Royal family itself. Your kind had been created in response to the growing dissention by the lower classes back on Antar. You were shape shifters; used as spies, warriors, assassins, anything the nobility required. And you couldn't refuse.

You and the rest of your kind were programmed to obey any order that the family you were assigned to gave to you, whether you agreed with it or not. You were created to be guardians, but in reality you were slaves.

You may have served the Royal family, but you had no love for them. In fact, it would be more accurate to say you despised the arrogant, ungrateful King. The king who only ever cared about what he wanted, the king whose selfishness would almost destroy a planet.

Regardless of what you thought of him, you could never tell him, nobody could speak against the king. You always wished though, that you could have told him what you thought.

Others did. You watched Khivar try to convince Zan to help the people of Antar, instead of increasing his own power at their expense. And when Zan refused to listen, you watched as Khivar began a rebellion against the Monarchy which would eventually cause Zan to lose everything.

Which lead to you being sent here.

You were sent to watch over the royal four but when the ship crashed you took your chance to finally get away. Your kind had been engineered to survive in a variety of environments so unlike others, you could survive in earths atmosphere without any protection. You picked a form and began to build a life for yourself. After fifty years you even began to even be able to enjoy some earth comforts.

You had no wish to return to Antar, the planet had all but fallen apart under Zan's reign and you didn't envy Khivar the task to try and rebuild it. You kept an eye on Roswell though; you knew that the royal four would resurface. When they did you kept an eye on them, not for the protection, but to make sure they would stay out of you life. Which is why you knew when Max came looking for you.

You tried to warn him off but your attempts failed. He wanted you to help find the ship that crashed to help rescue his son. He told you a story about an agreement with Khivar that his guardian (who had been going by the name Nasedo) and his past wife had made which lead to his past wife taking off in the granolith to deliver Max's son to Khivar.

You didn't care.

You had no love for Zan or Max and his plan was enormously stupid any way. It was extremely unlikely the ship would fly and what did he expect to happen when he got there? Did he just expect Khivar to hand the child over? Did he expect that there would be an army on his side when he arrived?

The only reason that Antars civil war went on as long as it did was because the nobles were the ones with the power, wealth and technology. They also had the guardians which could look like anyone and easily reported any information that was against the crown. However, despite all this it was Khivar who eventually won. Khivar who wanted an elected government, who wanted wealth and power given back to the people.

Khivar, who on the day he killed Zan, was supported by 90 percent of the planet.

You didn't bother to try to explain this to Max. Zan had never listened and you doubted this incarnation would either. You did tell him when pressed, that if you did try to make the ship work it would cost you all the small enjoyments that had taken fifty years for you to be able to enjoy in the first place.

Max didn't care. You weren't surprised, Max was all too similar to what Zan had been.

Then Max discoved you had to obey his orders. You had tried to hide the programming from him, but despite all your attempts he found out. The look of glee on his face his face when he found out made you sick. Max was every bit as selfish as Zan had once been.

There are ways around the programming, Nasedo proved that. He may not have been able to kill the king or betray him to Khivar directly, but it was his plan that delivered Tess, the Granolith and Max's son to Antar. Max, like Zan, never had been able to see people's betrayal before it was too late.

There was no way for you not to help Max though.

The plan didn't work, you had never expected to. You had told Max this, but he wouldn't listen. Zan had never listened either and it cost him everything. Unfortunately, today his failure to listen cost _**you**_everything.

You finally tell him what you wished to tell him on Antar, all those years ago.

"It's how you've always been your Majesty, selfish and ungrateful".

You find a small degree of amusement at the expression on his face. You doubt this child has ever considered that he wasn't a good King, that perhaps there had been good reasons for the revolution on Antar.

"Being your protector might be encoded in my genes, but after tonight... I'll never stop hating you."


	3. Bad Decisions

You're not surprised Max didn't accept the deal and go back to Antar. Disappointed, but not surprised.

Sure, Khivar was going to execute him (not tat Max had known that). Zan, Ava and Rath had been tried in their absence years ago and found guilty. Actions that had been called thing like 'pacification' under Zan's old regime were called things like genocide under the new one.

Because that's what Antar had been like. The nobility had had wealth, power and everything they ever needed or wanted. Meanwhile the rest of the planet was dying of disease and starvation.

There had been rebellions against the Monarchy for as long as you could remember, but they all had failed. Antar was just too divided, something that the nobility had encouraged, and the people just didn't have the resources to succeed.

That had all changed when Zan's father was assassinated and Zan took the throne, because no matter how bad the previous rulers had been Zan was far worse.

You never could decide whether Zan refused to see what the reality of the situation was on Antar or whether he knew what the situation was and just didn't care. You suppose that in the end it didn't really matter. The different factions on Antar disagreed on a lot of things, but one thing they could all agree on was hatred for the current king.

Zan's father had been assassinated by a former advisor of his who apparently tried to assassinate the entire Royal family, believing that they were destroying Antar. In retaliation Zan's first decision as the new king had been to declare martial law and execute anyone who was known to have worked against the crown .Thousands were executed in the first few days of Zan's reign

Zan was not a good king. He increased the taxes on the lower class to get more wealth for the already wealthy nobility. He through expensive balls instead of building desperately needed hospitals or supplying the staving populace with food. He did nothing as Antar began to slowly self-destruct.

Zan was eventually convinced to take an advisor from the lower class; Khivar. Khivar really did try to use what little influence he had with Zan to do what he could, but it just wasn't enough. This eventually led to him having to flee court when his ideas kept conflicting with the kings. It was very dangerous to disagree with Zan.

Zan really should have listened to Khivar when he had the chance because by the time Khivar fled court he didn't just want Zan to help the populace anymore. He wanted the Monarchy gone. Khivar was very charismatic and as by that time most of Antar wanted Zan gone, Khivar was able to unite Antar when all other attempts had failed.

There had been a few small rebellions in the major cities to try to force Zan to change the way he was doing things, but instead of compromising Zan sent troops to 'pacify' the population. Most of your family had been killed in one of these rebellions; the troops that killed them had been lead by Rath; head of the royal army himself. You swore to your self you would kill Rath for that.

It was a promise you kept.

You had been working as an informant for Khivar since he became an Advisor to the king and it wasn't long before you had risen to become Khivar's second in command. You were young, and your offensive powers weren't as powerful as some others, but you were cunning and having the power to take information out of anyone's mind made you a powerful opponent.

The conflict between Khivar and Zan dragged on. Khivar eventually offered Zan amnesty if he would support an elected government in an attempt to prevent outright war, but Zan believing he couldn't lose refused. This bad decision in a very long line of bad decisions, lead to a series of events that culminated in Zan and the rest of the royal four being killed.

Of course it didn't end there

The royal fours genetic material was mixed with human DNA and sent to Earth with the Granolith. Which meant Khivar had to send someone he trusted to Earth to kill Zan, Rath and Ava, and retrieve Vilandra and the Granolith. He sent you, which lead to you being stuck in this child's body for over 50 years.

Meanwhile back on Antar, Khivar had formed his new government, dissolved the nobility and was trying to improve conditions on the planet. Unfortunately, while Antar was Zan's seat of power, Zan had actually ruled over five planets and the nobility on the other four planets were not happy with Khivar.

While conditions for the lower classes on the other four planets weren't as bad as they had been for Antar, they still had been pretty bad. When the rebellion on Antar actually succeeded, the other planets decided they also wanted an elected government to which lead to a series of rebellions. In an attempt to try and stop the rebellions on their planets, the ruling families had attacked Khivar whose rebellion began it all. This caused Khivar to attack their planets in retaliation.

Ironically if the other four planets had worked together they probably could have defeated Khivar, but although some of the nobility was fighting in Zan's name, the rest was fighting each other over who should be in charge until Zan returned (although most didn't really believe he was returning and just wanted to be the next ruler). This led to the other four planets attacking each other. Which was why this conference was proposed.

Khivar saw this conference as a win-win situation. If Max agreed to his proposal, most of the fighting would stop due to the fact that Max would legitimize Khivar government in the eyes of the nobility. Max would then be executed for his crimes which would stop any further fighting in his name, as well as gaining more popularity for Khivar as the majority of the people wanted Zan dead, and most importantly we got the Granolith which gave significance influence to whatever side had it.

If Max refused, Khivar would gain more support as Max would look like a coward , who didn't give a damn about his world (which you're pretty much convinced of anyway). Meanwhile, Khivar, who was behind the peace proposal looks better than Max in the other planets eyes. However in this outcome one we don't get the Granolith.

Either way Max dies. You made a deal with the royal rejects to kill him if the deal fails in return for a ride home. Which is a total lie because, unfortunately for you, you can't leave this backwards planet until you find out where the Granolith is.

Not that you would take them anyway, these versions of the royal four was from the first attempt at recreating them. This version had absolutely no moral compass and you're pretty sure their partially brain damaged to or they would see your betrayl coming a mile off.

Despite your hopes, Max picked the second option. You knew Max still believed he was some sort of fairytale king in his last life and you had been hoping that the idea the he was needed to 'save his people' would have been enough to convince him to return.

However, apparently the idea that returning to stop the bloodshed and therefore saving millions of lives is nor enough for Max. He is every bit as selfish as Zan had been. And apparently was just a bad in his decision making.

"Do you ever wonder why your predecessor was killed?" You ask Max.

Images of Antar fill your mind. Images of overwhelming poverty and destruction. Images of dead family, dead friends. Images of starvation and despair, of millions dead because of this man in front of you.

"He made bad decisions"

You turn and stride from the room, not able to stand to be in his presence anymore.


	4. Alway's Mine

It had taken everything Isabel had to make it through her honeymoon. The entire time her mind had been whirling with the thought's of what had happened between her and Khivar on her and Jesse's honeymoon.

Now that she was home, she was finally alone she was desperately soughing through her thoughts, trying to find answers for all the things that occurred. Trying to distinguish the truth from the lies.

Khivar had told her that she had been the one to kill Rath and Zan, while according to Michael, Khivar had killed them all. She didn't believe that she had been behind the deaths of Rath and her brother. Thinking back on it, she thought Khivar had tried to use that lie to try to cut any ties she had with Max and her brother here on Earth. However, she doubted that Khivar had been the one to kill her either.

Nicolas, she had believed, had been under orders not to hurt her. In fact he had gone out of his way to keep her out of the line of fire. Why would Khivar order that if he had been responsible for her death in the first place? When Nicolas failed, he had come for her himself. Why would he do that unless some part of him loved her?

And it was that particular thought that had been causing her such turmoil.

She was Isabel now and what feelings she had for Khivar was overshadowed by her feelings for Jesse. But when she had gone to talk to Khivar that night, the part of her that had been Vilandra had come rushing to the surface. Not her memories, although she could feel them there just out of reach, but her emotions, her beliefs. For one brief moment she had been Vilandra. And Vilandra had loved Khivar more than Isabel loved Jesse.

_You will always be mine, _Khivar had said. Even now part of Isabel believed it.

In all her beliefs about who Vilandra had been, the truth had surprised her. She had always thought of Vilandra as evil, incapable of truly loving anyone (meeting Lonnie had solidified this belief). But despite everything, Vilandra had truly loved Khivar. Nor had there been any feelings of rage and hate when she saw her brother and Michael. In fact all she had felt towards them were emotions of love and sadness with a vague feelings of…. disappointment and resignation? To Isabel it made no sense and she couldn't help but have the feeling that she was missing something important.

She had had every intention of retuning to Antar with Khivar until Jesse attacked him. When she saw Jesse the part of her that was Isabel had managed to rise to the surface once more.

And Isabel would not betray her family again. She wouldn't be Vilandra anymore.

_But you are Vilandra_. A traitorous voice in her head whispered. _A different face, a different planet, a different name, but Vilandra still._

A knock at the door brought her attention to the present. She frowned, Jesse was still at work, and Max and Michael knew better than to talk to her when she was in once of these moods. She got up of the couch and opened the door. Liz. She should have known.

"Did Max send you?" Isabel asked, annoyance creeping into her voice. She was not in the mood to talk to anyone. Especially about Khivar. Not when she was still so confused herself.

"No," Liz said beginning to look a bit nervous, at the dark look on Isabel's face. "I just thought you might want to talk about, you know… Khivar".

"There is nothing to talk about," Isabel said, refusing to allow her into the room, "You couldn't understand".

"I may not understand about Antar and everything, but I do understand about love. I know that whatever happened between you and Khivar, that you love Jesse. You two are meant for each other. Like me and Max".

Privately Isabel had always thought the idea of Max and Liz as soul mates ridiculous. Liz had only become interested in Max after he saved her life and Isabel thought that the reason Max was so obsessed with Liz was because she was the only one he could be with that knew his secret. Isabel thought that Max and Liz _had_ to believe they were soul mates because if they weren't, it meant Max had saved Liz and set this whole thing with the FBI and the skins in motion for something that didn't exist. And to Liz it would have meant Alex would have died for something she never should have got involved in.

Isabel had been mad at Max when he saved Liz (he chose a stranger over his family after all), but the anger at Liz had come after. She had been mad that the moment that Liz had found out about Max, she had run off and told Maria. Maria who almost ended up turning them in. She hadn't hated Liz like Max thought, but she hadn't trusted her. She believed this opinion was justified when Liz later told Alex.

While Alex had taken the secret well, and later on she had been happy that he knew, it had never been Liz's secret to tell. Isabel had always thought Liz should just have been grateful that Max saved her life and moved on, instead of demanding an explanation and inserting herself in their lives. While she trusted Liz now there would always be a small part of her would always be resentful towards Liz for hers actions. And of all the people she wanted to talk to at the moment Liz was last on the list.

"Love's complicated Liz; it's never black or white, good or evil".

"What does that mean?"

"It means you can't help me. Khivar is gone and I am married to Jesse now, let's just leave it at that."

Liz went to leave the doorway, but turned back hesitating as if she wasn't sure how Isabel would take the question, "Did you love Khivar?"

Isabel gave Liz a long look.

"I loved him once," she finally replied. Liz gave her a sympathetic look before turning around and leaving. Isabel shut the door behind her, thankful that she was gone.

She walked over to the couch and sat down. _I loved him once, _she thought truthfully.

_And God help me, I love him still._


	5. Lies

"You can always tell if someone's lying by looking at their eyes" you remember your father telling you when you were young. It's advice that has served you well these past years when so many people have been lying to you.

It started with Liz the summer after you began dating her. You knew that there had been something going on with her and Max. No matter how hard she denied it, Liz had always been easy to read. Not to mention her excuse were just terrible –irremovable body paint? Really?

Then you father started lying to you about Max. For all the excuses he made you could always read the lies in his eyes. It's the same lies you see in Liz's and in Max's.

Eventually, after you got shot and Max heals you (you would be grateful but if he had just stopped to tell you Pierce was a danger you never would have got shot in the first place) you learn the truth. You see the excitement and obsession in your father's eyes as he tells about Max. You leave for the summer just to get away from it.

As soon as you got back from football camp your father once again began talking about Max and his merry band of aliens. Sometimes a small part you wonders if you father cares for Max more than you.

Your father, you realized had become every bit as obsessed with aliens as your grandfather had been, and like your grandfather it eventually cost him is job, his reputation and, you sometimes think, his sanity.

Max your father told you that day, was some alien king. That still makes you laugh. Why a race advanced enough for space travel had such an outdated system of government is beyond you. Even the monarchies that still exist on earth don't that same absolute power that Max seems to wield over the rest of his group. It's very totalitarian (you still can't believe how Max treated his own sister when she wanted to leave Roswell). You however have no obligation or desire to follow any of Max's demands.

Tess and her lies got past you admit that. You thought that she truly did care for you. Maybe, you think sometimes, she truly did care. It doesn't matter now you suppose. You can never forgive her for Alex and she is dead and gone.

You think every thing would have been better if the aliens had never come, Alex would be alive, your father and grandfathers reputation would never had been destroyed, Nasedo would never had killed all those people and the special unit would never have been formed.

You still wish your father had just left things alone after Max healed Liz all those lifetimes ago. You wish you had never got caught up in all of this because in the end… this is not your war.

You ran because you know the FBI will be taking at good long look at anything associated with the aliens and if you manifest powers when there watching you… well, you would rather take your chances with Max. It doesn't mean you have to like it.

Every one is still looking over their shoulders for the FBI or Khivars forces. You don't care about this war between Khivar and Max, Khivars done nothing to you and you don't even know (or really care) what their wars about anyway. And that's the thing really because although you would never go out of your way to betray the others, if someone had a gun to your head…

Max is not your king and this is not his planet. Hell, Max has been more a threat to this planet than Khivar (you have not forgotten that your entire planet was almost wiped out by the ganderium from Max's ship). The thing is, that although know the others you're not friends, not really. Isabel's the only one who's shown you any real kindness lately. To the others you're more a resource to be used when needed. And maybe it makes you a coward but you will not die for them.

"You wouldn't turn on us would you Kyle would you, even if it meant your own life?" Liz asks as the group of us drive along the road.

"No", you say and your voice sounds sincere.

You keep your faced turned towards the window so she cannot see your eyes.


	6. Sorry

It was dark in the graveyard. It was after 2.00 am so it was not at all surprising that no one was around to watch the boy enter the graveyard. The boy looked around cautiously before making his way over to a particular grave. He stared at the name in silence for a few minutes.

"I don't even know why I'm here" The boy finally said, scuffing the ground near the grave with his shoe, "It's not like I even met you. I don't even care about you. Not to mention that I have, in the past, been trying to kill your friends".

The boy sighed and walked a little closer to the grave, "You should have picked you friends more carefully," the boy said almost cruelly, "but I suppose that's unfair isn't it?, you're just a child after all, and I don't think you had any idea of what you stumbled into. I wonder if you would have made the same choices if you'd known"

The boy ran his fingers over headstone, "I don't like this planet and I don't particularly like your people, but I don't hate you either," he shrugged, "Although don't think you would care what I think. And I think after what's happened to you, you don't particularly like mine either"

"It was Tess who killed you, you know, I could kill her easily, never did like Queen Ava, but Tess's plan is helping my side of war at the movement. Still, she'll die in the end, although I suppose you're beyond caring".

The boy gently traced the outline of the name on the headstone.

"I guess I'm here to say sorry. Sorry that you got caught in the cross fire of a war that that had nothing to do with you and should have ended long ago.

"I'm tired of this war you know, it's dragged on so long. I'm tired of burying family and friends. I'm tired of seeing people die simply because there in the wrong place at the wrong time". The boy's eyes suddenly looked much older than his face "I've seen enough innocents die in this war"

He turned to walk away a carefully crafted nonchalant expression replacing the tired one he wore a few seconds ago, but paused and bent over to pick a twig of the ground. With practiced ease he waved his hand over the twig changing into a flower. He gently placed it with the others on the grave.

"Goodbye Alex Whitman, I hope you find you peace. Maybe someday I'll find mine".


End file.
